Candle Safety Statistics
This holiday season sees more families light candles than any other time of the year. Families celebrating Hannukah or lighting a candle for a festive atmosphere or a fun holiday scent can accidentally burn down their home and potentially worse if they’re not careful. Not convinced? Consider these statistics from the National Fire Protection Association to make you think more about candle safety:
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- 60% of home candles fires started because a combustible material was left near/came near the candle.
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- 11% of these fires and 21% of deaths related to candles occurred because someone fell asleep.
- The holiday season is a huge factor- 12% of these fires began with decorations compared to 4% the rest of the year.
- Each year on average from 2012-2016, fires started by candles caused 770 injuries, $264 million in property damage, and 80 deaths.
Candle Safety Tips
1) Keep candles at least twelve inches from things that can burn.
According to ExplainThatStuff and common sense, candles are hot. Candles burn at about 2550°F at their hottest, the blue/white outer edge of the flame. The brightest part of the flame is 2190°F. While you may see people wave their hands over candles, there’s a reason they don’t stick their hands into the heat.
As such, keep your candle away from anything flammable. If you put your candles near your windows, move them closer towards you than the panes of the window, and definitely away from any curtains.
2) Keep your candles in sight.
Lighting a candle in the dining room while you watch TV in the living room might sound like a good idea, but if something goes wrong, you’ll only know after the problem has gotten worse.
3) Put your candle in the middle of a stable table.
If your table is unstable and someone knocks into it, your candle could fall onto the floor and catch the rug or floor on fire. Try not to reach across the candle either, as it could light your shirt.
4) Don’t burn the candle all the way down.
Put out the flame if it comes close to the proper holder it’s been put in. A good margin of protection would be two inches of wax, or half an inch of the candle if it’s in a holder.
5) Read the manufacturer’s use and safety instructions.
Yes, even for a candle. That thirty seconds it takes you to read it could ultimately save your life and your home.
6) Consider B Safe for your fire alarm/monitoring needs.
You may still not be taking candles seriously, but consider the fires that they do start and fires caused by things others than candles.
B Safe will gladly put smoke detectors and heat detectors in your home. Heat detectors are put in environments that smoke detectors are not suitable for, such as near furnaces, garages, attics, laundry rooms, and kitchens. If a fire breaks out in your home, our monitoring center will make sure you’re okay, and if not, immediately dispatch the fire department and contact people on your emergency list.
Give your office a call today and we’ll send a representative to your home to help with your fire safety needs.
Thanks and Happy Holidays!